After finishing his safety briefing, Conan led the group quietly out of the Kudo residence, moving with exaggerated stealth through the front garden.
"Why are we skulking around like burglars?" Eiji complained, hunching over dramatically as they crept between hedges. "I thought we came here to sightsee, not commit crimes."
"I find it rather exciting," Fuji observed with his characteristic gentle smile. "There's something thrilling about sneaking out of someone else's house like this."
Everyone turned to stare at him with varying degrees of surprise and concern.
"Fuji," Sengoku said slowly, "are you telling us that underneath that innocent exterior, you've been hiding a rebellious streak this whole time?"
Fuji merely smiled more broadly, completely unfazed by their scrutiny. He'd grown accustomed to such reactions after years of claiming that Inui's horrible vegetable juice concoctions tasted "refreshing."
"My next-door neighbor is Dr. Agasa," Conan explained as they approached an adjacent property. "Ai is staying with him temporarily. But when I checked earlier, it seemed like they were both out."
He rang the doorbell several times, waiting hopefully for a response that never came.
"That's just perfect," Conan muttered with frustration. "I specifically told Ai I'd be bringing guests today, and she still went out with the professor. Now my whole plan is ruined."
"Don't worry about it," Gustave said reasonably. "We're not here as formal guests—we're tourists. Having you as our guide is more than sufficient."
Privately, Gustave thought Ai's absence might actually be beneficial. With fewer potential complications, their chances of encountering the murders, kidnappings, and general mayhem that seemed to follow Conan everywhere would be significantly reduced.
"I suppose that'll have to work," Conan sighed. "But I still need to get inside. Yesterday I asked Ai to prepare identification documents for everyone. We'll need them in case we encounter police—which, knowing my luck, is practically inevitable."
The boy's thorough preparation spoke to his extensive experience dealing with law enforcement, though perhaps not in ways most children should.
Conan approached Dr. Agasa's property and began examining the two-meter wall surrounding it, clearly calculating how to scale the barrier with his limited reach.
"This is hilarious!" Eiji burst into laughter. "Look at this little guy! He's trying to climb a wall that's literally twice his height with those stubby legs!"
"If you can't get your identification papers, you'll be the one getting arrested by police!" Conan shot back indignantly. Here he was, thinking ahead to protect everyone, and Eiji was mocking his efforts!
"Eiji." Tezuka's voice carried just enough warning to cut through the laughter.
"Alright, alright, I'm sorry," Eiji conceded immediately. "I shouldn't have made fun of you, little guy. Here, let me help you get inside."
Without waiting for permission, he scooped Conan up in his arms.
"What are you doing?!" Conan yelped, caught completely off guard by the sudden manhandling.
"Relax, it's perfectly safe," Eiji assured him with a grin. "Sengoku! Get ready to catch!"
"Got it!" Sengoku responded, placing his hands on the wall and vaulting over with athletic grace, landing smoothly on the other side.
"Here we go, little projectile!" Eiji announced cheerfully, launching Conan over the wall without any consultation about the boy's preferences in the matter.
Sengoku caught him easily and set him down on solid ground, while Eiji followed with his own effortless wall-scaling maneuver.
"I can't believe you just threw me!" Conan protested, though he was secretly impressed by their coordination and athletic ability.
The remaining group members waited outside while Conan led Eiji and Sengoku into Dr. Agasa's house to retrieve the forged documents.
In Japan, official identification typically consisted of driver's licenses, social security cards, or similar documents rather than the national ID cards used in some other countries.
Given that Tezuka and his teammates appeared mature for their actual ages, Ai had prepared driver's licenses for all of them. Gustave received documentation identifying him as a French international student—a reasonable cover story that would explain any cultural unfamiliarity.
When the trio returned and began distributing the licenses, everything proceeded smoothly until Eiji handed Tezuka his document. The moment Eiji saw the information, he couldn't suppress a snicker.
"What's so amusing?" Gustave asked, noting that Eiji had shown no such reaction to anyone else's papers.
"Nothing, nothing at all," Eiji replied, though his voice was shaking with suppressed laughter. "It's just... snort... perfectly normal!"
Tezuka opened his license with growing dread, examined the contents, and his expression grew even stonier than usual—which was saying something.
Curious about the source of Eiji's entertainment, everyone gathered around to examine Tezuka's identification.
"Wow! Big Brother Tezuka is already twenty-five!" Yang Chan exclaimed after Gustave lifted her up so she could see properly.
The age discrepancy was glaring. According to their new identities: Fuji was eighteen, Sengoku was eighteen, Eiji was eighteen, and even Gustave—who was actually the oldest in the group—was listed as twenty-two. Meanwhile, Tezuka had somehow been assigned an age of twenty-five.
No wonder Tezuka's usual stern expression had taken on an extra layer of frigid displeasure. There was a palpable aura of barely contained volcanic fury radiating from his normally controlled demeanor.
"Tezuka, I'm really sorry about this," Conan said nervously, his voice trembling slightly. "When we were preparing these documents yesterday, we initially planned to make everyone eighteen. But then we realized that might look suspicious—a group of tourists all the exact same age. So we decided to vary the ages a bit for authenticity, and yours and Gustave's ended up being adjusted upward."
"I understand the reasoning," Tezuka replied in a carefully controlled voice, sliding the offending document into his pocket. "It's fine."
Of course, this wasn't the first time someone had mistaken him for being older than his actual age. His mature appearance and serious demeanor had been causing such confusion for years.
"Well then!" Conan announced with forced cheerfulness, desperate to move past the awkward moment. "I know a great coffee shop nearby. My treat for everyone!"
"Excellent! The little guy's buying!" Eiji declared enthusiastically, immediately shifting gears and practically pushing Tezuka toward the street. "Let's go explore!"
Grateful for the distraction, Conan took point and led them toward Beika Town's main commercial district.
"This area is called Beika Town, correct?" Fuji asked as they walked, taking in the familiar yet subtly different urban landscape around them.
"That's right—it's part of the greater Tokyo metropolitan area," Conan confirmed.
"Interesting," Fuji mused. "Our Tokyo doesn't have a Beika Town. The geography seems to be genuinely different between our worlds, even when they're supposedly the same city."
As they continued through the streets, Gustave found himself fascinated by the eclectic mix of vehicles they encountered. Cars from the 1990s shared the road with models from both the 1980s and early 2000s, creating a temporal hodgepodge that somehow felt both fragmented and strangely cohesive.
But considering this was Conan's world, the chronological inconsistencies made perfect sense. After all, this was a universe where the protagonist had been in elementary school for over two decades of real time, during which his cell phone had evolved from a brick-sized device to a modern smartphone while he remained perpetually seven years old.
Time works differently here, Gustave reflected with amusement. Twenty years of technological and cultural development compressed into a single frozen moment. No wonder everything feels slightly surreal.
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